Building joints



July 26, 1955 B. H. TRIPP BUILDING JOINTS Filed May 4. 1950 /m/en f0r Bur/6 H Tr/pp By his af/ameys Unite rates atent 2313324 Patented .iuiy 26, 1955 BUELDING JGHNTS Burr-ell H. Tripp, Scarsdale, N. Y., assignor to Luria Steel & Trading Corp., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 4, 1959, Serial No. 160,006

4 Ciaims. (Si. 189-36) This invention relates to a novel method of building construction, to structural assemblies suitable for use with the novel method and to buildings made thereby. In particular, the invention is addressed to a novel method of reinforcing the joints between supporting and supported longitudinal structural members such as the joints between columns and rafters and between two rafters; to structural assemblies for making such joints and to buildings having joints reinforced in the novel fashion.

Under the stimulus of post-war reconstruction, a tremendous demand has grown up for new buildings which can be constructed quickly. At least in part this demand is due to the extension of modern technology and western living standards to other portions of the world. In such applications, particularly, skilled labor is not readily available and hence it is desirable to have a building design which can be fabricated to the greatest possible extent in a manufacturing country and then merely assembled on the building site.

It is important, moreover, that the structural elements of these buildings be simple and of a shape convenient for shipping.

One step in the construction of nearly any building which ordinarily requires a considerable amount of skilled effort at the construction site is the reinforcing of joints between longitudinal structural members, as between columns and rafters or between one rafter and another.

In known building construction, the junctions between longitudinal members such as columns and rafters are reinforced in various ways. One method commonly employed is to rivet or weld a knee-brace from a point on the column to a point on the rafter. This method involves the use of considerable skilled labor at the construction site. off a portion of the building from useful purposes.

In another construction an arch may be built around the joint. This is vastly too complex to be done at a building site where there is a scarcity of skilled labor.

The present invention provides a construction wherein the joints between supporting and supported longitudinal structural members can be firmly reinforced with a minimum of effort at the building site itself, and with very little diminution of the useful space of the finished building.

According to the invention, a triangular reinforcing member having a flanged side is employed, one unflanged side of the reinforcing member being connected either directly or indirectly with the supporting longitudinal member and the other unflanged side being connected with the supported structural member.

In the method according to the invention, all difficult operations in forming the reinforced joint may be performed at the manufacturing plant by the preliminary fabrication of structural assemblies leaving only the simplest operations, e. g. bolting the assemblies together, to be Moreover, the use of a knee-brace cuts performed at the building site. The structural assemblies according to the invention are readily stowed in ships and cars and are therefore convenient to transport.

In the simplest form of the invention, one unflanged side of a triangular structural member having its longest side flanged is secured to one longitudinal member and a connecting plate is welded across the other unflanged side. The plate is then attached by using securing elements, as by bolting, to a second structural member.

According to another form of the invention, two triangular reinforcing members are used, each of which has its longest side flanged. Each such member is directly secured to one of the longitudinal structural members to be joined by an unflanged side. A connecting plate is then secured to the remaining unflanged side of one of the reinforcing members and attached as by bolting to the flange of the other reinforcing member.

In another form of the invention particularly suited for joining two rafters, two right triangular reinforcing members each having one flanged leg are used, the unflanged hypotenuses of each reinforcing member being attached to one of the structural members it is desired to join. Connecting plates are then attached to the unflanged leg of each reinforcing member. The connecting plates may then be bolted together.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a joint between a column and a rafter according to the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1 showing the cross-section of a typical structural member;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a typical triangular reinforcing member as might be used, for example, in the construction of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of a reinforcing plate as used in the embodiments of Figs. 1, 5 and 6 of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a joint according to a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of a joint between two rafters according to the invention.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. l, a column 1 is to be joined to a rafter 2.

According to this form of the invention, a triangular reinforcing member 3 is cut to have three sides unequal in length, the longest side 4 being flanged. Such a member is shown in detail in Fig. 1. The reinforcing member is then attached to the rafter 2 as by welding and the ends of the rafter and the connected reinforcing member are cut off to make the desired angle with the column 1. It will be understood, of course, that the rafter and reinforcing member may be out according to the pitch of the roof and dressed before they are welded together. When the rafter 2 and its associated reinforcing member are properly attached and cut, a connecting plate 5, shown also in Fig. 4, is then joined as by welding to the cut ends of the rafter and its associated reinforcing member. The plate 5 is provided with holes 6 and may be bolted directly to the flange of the column in which matching holes (not shown) are provided.

One of the special advantages of this procedure is that all operations including cutting the reinforcing member, bonding it to the rafter, cutting the rafter and reinforcing member and welding the connecting plate to the combination can be performed at a prefabrication plant. The rafter assembly can then be shipped in that condition to the building site and all that remains to be done at the building site is to bolt the column and rafter assembly together.

An alternate construction is shown in Fig. 5. There the rafter 2 is modified by attaching a triangular reinforcrafter and its associated member is then cut at an angle equal to the angle a which it is desired that the rafter make with the column less the angle b which the longest flanged side of the second reinforcing member makes with the column.

It will be understood, of course, that the reinforcing member 7 may be cut to proper size before joining it to the rafter. In such case the largest angle of the reinforcing member will be [(b-l-180)a].

A connecting plate 13 similar to that shown in Fig. 4 is attached to the cut ends of the rafter and its associated V, reinforcing member as by welding and the flange of the second reinforcing member 10 is bolted to the plate. In

a manner analogous to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the rafter assembly including the rafter 2 itself, the reinforcing member 7 and the connecting plate 13 as well as the column assembly comprising the column proper 1 and its associated reinforcing member 10 can be formed at the prefabrication plant. All that remains to be done at the building site is to bolt together the connecting plate and the second reinforcing member 10.

A construction which is conveniently used between two rafters is shown in Fig. 6. As will appear from that figure, each rafter 2 is modified by attaching to its end a triangular reinforcing member 24. Each reinforcing member is of right triangular outline and has a flange on one of its legs. The ends of the rafters are cut at the desired angle and the hypotenuse 26 of each member is attached as by welding to a rafter so that the unflanged side of the triangle is in extension of the cut end of the rafter. A connecting plate 27 is then welded across the end of each rafterand coplanar leg of the associated reinforcing member. The two connecting plates may then be bolted together.

It is intended that the assembly comprising a rafter, its reinforcing member and connecting plate will be put together at the fabrication plant leavingonly the two connecting members to be bolted together at the construction site. If desired a plate 28 may be attached across the junction between the two reinforcing members.

Reinforcing members such as that shown in Fig. 3 may be made in any desired way. A convenient manner of producing them is to cut a length of structural material having a cross-section such as that shown in Fig. 2 diagonally across its web to form two triangular portions of the shape shown in Fig. 3. In this manner only one basic structural shape is necessary for the reinforced joint and it may be the same. structural shape used for the columns and rafters themselves. The reinforcing members may also be cut from a T section structural member in a similar manner or built up by welding together plates properly cut to shape.

In the construction according to the invention, a long line of support can be obtained between both the supporting and supported members and the reinforcing structure without taking up any great proportionof the usable space inside the building. Moreover, in the present constructions the placing of the flange so that it forms a continuous surface with the interior surfaces of the supporting and supported members provides a more stable reinforcement and is more convenient for the placing of wall surfaces.

It will be understood that the method described is 5. adaptable for building frames made from structural members of various cross-sectional shapes and the invention is not limited to the particular shapes shown in the drawings and described in the specification.

What I claim is:

l. A building having a supported longitudinal structural member and a supporting longitudinal structural member angularly connected therewith, in combination with a triangular reinforcing member having a flanged side, one unflanged side of said reinforcing member being connected to said supported member, and the other unflanged side being coplanar with the end of said supported member, a plate connected to the end of said supported member, and the coplanar side of said rein-. forcing member, and securing elements fastening said plate to said supporting longitudinal structural member.

2. A building comprising a column, a rafter, a triangular reinforcing member having a flange on one side, one unflanged side of said reinforcing member being connected to said rafter and the other unflanged side being coplanar with the end of said rafter, a plate connected to the end of said rafter and the coplanar side of said reinforcing member and securing elements fastening said 7 plate to said column.

3. A building having a column, a rafter angularly connected therewith, a first reinforcing member of triangular outline having a longest flanged side and joined to the column by anunflanged side, a second triangular reinforcing member, having a longest flanged side, one of the unflanged sides of the second reinforcing member being joined to the rafter and the other unflanged side being coplanar with the end of the rafter, a plate joined to the end of the rafter and the coplanar side of the second reinforcing member and elements fastening said plate to said column by means of the flange of said first reinforcing member.

4. A building having a column and a rafter, said rafter. being angularly connected at one end to said column by means of a triangular reinforcing member having a flange on one side, there being two unflanged sides of said reinforcing member one connected to the rafter and the other being coplanar with said one end of said rafter, there also being a plate connected to said one end of said rafter and to the coplanar side'of said reinforcing member and securing elements fastening said plate to said column; in combination with a right triangular reinforcing member on the other end of said rafter, said right triangular reinforcing member having a flanged leg, and being attached to said rafter at its hypotenuse, the unflanged leg of said member being coplanar with the end ofsaid rafter, a plate joined to said other end of said rafter and coplanar leg of said right triangular reinforcing member, and securing elements for joining said plate to the corresponding plate of another rafter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,290,093 Cole Jan. 7, 1919 1,791,897 Hyde et al. Feb. 10, 1931 1,906,634 Leake May 2, 1933 1,913,097 Wallis June 6, 1933 1,984,767 Shaifert Dec. 18, 1934 2,172,806 Probeck Sept. 12, 1939 2,205,362 Korn June 18, 1940 2,246,245 Eckart et al. June 17, 1941 2,376,574 Collins May 22, 1945 2,387,134 Fox Oct. 16, 1945 2,458,606 Knabe Jan. 11, 1949 

